Although the company might be best known today for their lovable Beetle, Volkswagen was created 74 years ago today in 1937 by the government of Germany—then under the control of Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party—as a new state-owned automobile company. After the Nazis were defeated, Volkswagen was rebuilt with assistance from the British Army. The company produced the first of the millions of Type 1 Beetles that would follow in December of 1945.